Gauchos Back to Conference Action, Host No. 60 Long Beach State and UC Riverside

Kaiulani Boyer (Photo by Tony Mastres)

Apr 02, 2014

SANTA BARBARA,Calif.—After an entire week without matches, the UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team (5-13, 2-2) will take the court again for a pair of Big West conference matches. Santa Barbara is slated for a showdown on Friday, Apr. 4 at 1 p.m. against Big West leaders and nationally ranked No. 60 Long Beach State (13-2, 4-0). The Gauchos will then face off against UC Riverside (0-14, 0-3) on Saturday, Apr. 5 at noon.

The Gauchos are coming off a busy spring break as the team hosted three matches within a five day stretch. Despite the jam packed schedule, UCSB displayed strong play as the team won two out of the three contests. UCSB pulled off a 4-3 upset over then ranked No. 53 Kansas State but then fell to Hawaii in a tight 4-3 decision. The Gauchos rounded out the week with a decisive 5-2 win over Sacramento State.

Junior, Paola Cos is now riding a three match win streak as she is continuing to shine for the team. Working primarily on courts 4, 5 or 6, the junior is providing consistent play for the Gauchos.

Freshman, Jaimee Gilbertson is providing more versatility and flexibility in Coach Thibodeau's lineup as the Australia native is having a sensational season thus far. Despite her eight match win streak being snapped, Gilbertson came back with a convincing win during the team's duel against Sacramento State. Undefeated so far on courts No. 5 and 6, Gilbertson shuffled around the lineup as the freshman worked on courts 3 and 4 last week against Kansas State, Hawaii and Sacramento State.

Coming off strong performances, the Gauchos will face a tough test against a 49ers team that is riding a four match win streak. As the season is winding down, every match holds increasing importance as the team is aiming towards capturing the Big West title.